Catch for portfolios and the like.



w. A. LQTZ. CATCH FOR PORTFOLIOS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

g 3 INVENTOR'.

WITNESSES:

41/ W 21 4 BY I i I 25 'wlula ALB-t2- UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. LOTZ, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO R. NEUIVIANN HARDWARE 00., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CATCH FOR PORTFOLIOS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Lorz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Catches for Portfolios and the Like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference, generally, to improvements in catches; and, the present invention relates, more particularly to a novel form of locking or holding catch which is especially adapted for use with portfolios, music-rolls, pocket-books, and the like.

The invention has for its principal object to provide a locking or holding catch of the general character hereinafter more particularly set forth, in which the various parts have been reduced to a minimum, and in which the looking or holding bar, which is rotatably arranged with relation to a chambered shell or casing of the device, is made with a shank which is of polygonal crosssection, and with which is in slidably retaining engagement a portion of a leaf-spring or springs, for positively retaining the locking or holding bar of the catch, against ac cidental movement, relatively in different positions to the separable parts of the portfolio, music-roll, or the like, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Other objects of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the same.

With the various objects of the present invention in View, the said invention consists, primarily, in the novel looking or holding catch hereinafter set forth; and,

the invention consists, furthermore, in the novel arrangements and combination of the several parts comprising the said catch, all of which will be more fully described in the :following' specification, and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appended toand which form an essential part of this specification.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a locking or holding catch made according to and embodying the principles of the present invention, showing the separable members of the catch secured to the separable parts of a portfolio, or the like, with the locking or holding bar of the catch in its locked or holding relation with the separable members of the catch, to prevent the separation of the separable parts of the portfolio; and Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts represented in said Fig. 1, but showing the locking or holding bar in its disengaged relation with the separable members of the catch, to permit of the separation of the said members and also of the separable parts of the portfolio. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the two connected members of the catch; and Fig. 4 is a side view of the same. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the catch, said section being taken on line 55 in said Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section of the catch, said section being represented as being taken on line 6-6 in said Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional representation, similar to that shown in said Fig. 6, but of a slightly modified construction; and Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the looking or holding bar and its shank, detached from the lower shell or casing of the catch.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the above described views, to v and a lower member which is adapted to be secured to the said body 1, and the other an upper member which is adapted to be secured to said flap 2, substantially in the manner represented in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and as will presently be more fully set forth. The said lower member which may be of any suitable conformation, but which is preferably of a rectangular configuration, as here shown, is made in the form of a chambered shell or box comprisbody 1 and are bent over upon the rear or back of said body, so as to permanently secure said chambered shell or box upon the face of said body 1, at the proper place.

The upper member of the holding or lockcatch is usually made in the form of a plate .11 which is doubled upon itself, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, so as to provide twoportions which are adapted to embrace the flap 2 and are adapted to be secured to said flap by means of a suitable fastening pin or rivet 12, or other suitable fas tening means, as will be clearly understood from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. -Extending rearwardly from one of the portions of the said plate 11 is a stud,

as 13, which, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, is adapted to be insertedin the previously-mentioned perforation 9 wlth which the plate-like member 8 is provided.

Figs. 1, t and 5 of the drawings.

The reference-character 14 indicates the hereinbefore mentioned rotatable locking or holding bar which is provided with apair ,of wings, as 15, said wings serving the double purposes of fingerpieces for turning the said looking or holding bar 14:, and for causing one of the said wings to lock or hold the two main members of the catch in their connected and locked relation, as will be clearly understood from an inspection of Extending rearwardly from the said locking or holding bar 14: is a shank which consists of a cylindrically formed part 16 rotatably ar ranged in a perforation, as 17 which forms a suitable bearing-portion for the said part 16in the faceplate 3 of the chambered shell or box. Extending rearwardly from said part 16 is a polygonally formed portion 18, preferably of a rectangular or square crosssection, as clearly represented in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, and connected with this portion 18 is a suitably formed enlargement or head 19. To retain the said holding or looking bar 14: and its wings 15 positively 'in either of the positions represented in said Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and to have the rotatable holding or looking bar to turn from one position into another position with a snap, and also to hold the said bar 14 and its shank at all times in its operative and rotatable relation to the said chambered shell or box, there are suitably arranged in said shell or box, one or two leaf-springs, substantially in the manner illustrated in Figs. 3, 6 and 7 of the drawings.

In the construction of catch represente in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive two springs 20 and 21 are employed, while in the construction shown in Fig. 7 but one spring, as 21, is employed.

As shown, the general shapes of the springs are those shown in the accompanying drawings, the central portions 22 and 23 of the respective springs bearing upon the opposite flat surfaces of the polygonally formed portion 18, and being located between the cylindrically formed part 16 and the head 19, the said springs bearing also against the inner surface of the front plate 3, and the free end-portions 24 of the spring 20 bearing upon the inner surface-portions of the top-edge 5 and the two end-edges 6 and 7. The free ends 25 of the said spring 21 bear upon the inner surface-portions of the bottom-edge 4 and the end-edges 6 and 7, and in this manner the locking or holding bar 14 and its parts are free to operate for the purposes of the present invention, and are operatively held in place, as will be clearly evident.

If desired, but one spring, as 21, see Fig. 7, may be used, but in the preferred form of catch I desire to use two springs 20 and 21.

From the foregoing description of the present invention it will be clearly evident that I have devised a' simply constructed and neat catch, the two main members of which, when the parts are in the locked or engaged relation, can not become accidentally unlatched, the two members being retained in their positively latched relation, in the manner clearly represented in Figs. 4; and 5 of the drawings.

Having in the foregoing described my invention, what I claim is 1. A catch for portfolios, and the like, comprising a lower and an upper member, said lower member being made in the form of a chambered shell or box provided with means for attaching the same to the body of the portfolio, a plate-like member extending upwardly from said chambered shell or box, said plate-like member being provided with a stud-receiving perforation, a stud extending rearwardly from the upper member of the catch, said stud being adapted to be inserted in said stud-receiving perforation, and a holding bar provided with oppositely extending wings rotatably connected with said chambered shell or box, said wings being adapted to be rotated into retaining engagement with the upper member of the catch, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A catch for portfolios, and the like, comprising a lower and an upper member,

said lower member being made in the form of a chambered shell'or box provided with means for attaching the same to the body of the shell or box, said plate-like member being provided with a stud-receiving perforation, a stud extending rearwardly from the upper member of the catch, said stud being adapted to be inserted in said stud-receiving perforation, and a holding bar provided with oppositely extending wings rotatably connected with said chambered shell or box, said wings being adapted to be rotated into retaining engagement with the upper member of the catch, a shank extending rearwardly from said holding bar and extending into said chambered shell or box, said shank being made with a polygonal portion and a head, and a leaf-spring in said chambered shell or box having a portion slidably in engagement with the polygonal portion of said shank, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a catch for portfolios, and the like, a chambered shell or box comprising a faceplate and surrounding sides, said face-plate being provided with a perforation forming a bearing-portion, combined with a holding bar having oppositely extending wings, and a shank extending rearwardly from said holding bar, said shank being formed with a cylindrical part rotatably arranged in said bearing-portion, a polygonally formed portion extending from said cylindrical part, an enlargement upon the free end-portion of said polygonally formed portion, and a pair of leaf-springs in said chambered shell or box, said springs having their central portions arranged between said cylindrical part and said enlargement of the shank on opposite sides of the said polygonal portion of the shank and in slidable engagement with the flat surfaces of said polygonal portion, and the free endportions of said springs being in engagement with the surrounding sides of the said chambered shell or box, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of November, 1912.

WILLIAM A. LOTZ.

Witnesses FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, FREDK. H. W. FRAENTZEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, .D. G. 

